Thursday, March 16, 2017

Local Charter School Accused of Serving Rotten Meat to Reopen Monday

A San Antonio charter school accused of serving students rotten meat will reopen Monday after being closed for a state investigation last week.

State education officials have found the San Antonio School for Inquiry and Creativity to be in compliance with food safety and hiring laws (parents alleged the administration hadn't run criminal background checks on all employees), according to Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath.

"TEA staff had worked with SASIC staff to ensure that the conditions at the school that presented a danger of material harm to the health, safety, or welfare of students would be corrected," Morath wrote in a Thursday letter to SASIC Superintendent Tonja Nelson.

This investigation comes after SASIC teachers, staff and parents had raised numerous complaints about the school's poor sanitation, nepotism, hiring practices, and transparency. Photos shared from a cafeteria staff member showed rotten meat left in kitchen over winter break — which she alleged was then served the students. These concerns caught the attention of San Antonio State Rep. Diego Bernal, who immediately penned a letter to Morath demanding an investigation.

Photo by Diego Bernal

While students can return to school Monday, the TEA will continue to investigate whether or not SASIC should remain open for the longterm. To keep the charter school on its toes, the TEA has assigned a "monitor" to track if will SASIC continue to run background checks on its new hires and keep its cafeteria up to code (among other concerns). The monitor's $75 per hour rate must be covered by SASIC funds.

And if the school's caught slipping? "SASIC's operations and funding will be suspended," Morath added, in bold.